JP3153971U - Touchpad - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a touch pad that simplifies the number of combined layers of the touch pad structure, reduces the material cost, reduces the adhesion process, reduces the defect rate, improves the optical characteristics, and achieves the demand for light and thin characteristics. To do. A substrate 10 having a transparent body provided for a touch pad is formed with a color frame 20 at a peripheral edge portion of a surface, and provided with at least one touch sensor 30 in an insulated state on the substrate, and a signal conductor portion of the touch sensor edge. Is installed correspondingly below the color frame. The color frame is a thin film having a thickness of about 5 μm or less. Further, it is possible to install at least one transparent isolation layer or transparent ground layer outside the main surface of the touch sensor, and to install at least one light control layer or functional thin film on the main surface of the substrate. Is possible. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch pad structure, and is a touch pad that has a transparent characteristic and is arranged and used in front of a display of an electric product to enable an interactive input operation by a user.

  With the rapid advancement of science and technology in touchpad fabrication, the functional quality of touchpads has greatly improved, while the price has dropped significantly. Touchpads are widely applied to general consumer electronic products such as digital electric products such as mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 (MP3), personal digital assistants (PDAs), and global positioning systems (GPS). Because the touchpad on electronic products is placed and used on the display of electronic products, this allows the user to perform interactive input operations, greatly improving the communication interface between man and machine Can greatly improve the efficiency of input operations.

  As shown in FIG. 13 to FIG. 15, most of the touch pads currently in general use are those in which a decorative plate 600 is pasted on the transparent flat touch sensor plate 500 and then covered and pasted on the display. It is. Usually, the touch sensor plate 500 has a touch sensor 501 and is sandwiched between the upper substrate 502 and the lower substrate 503 in an insulated state. The decorative plate 600 is a transparent plate layer, and a colored decorative frame 601 is formed on the peripheral edge of the surface, and the signal conductor portion 501a provided on the touch sensor edge is hidden to make the appearance beautiful. Since the touch pad is made of a transparent material, it is suitable for use as a signal input device by placing it in front of an electronic merchandise display. The user touches a specific position on the touch pad according to the instructions on the monitor screen. Press to enter a signal.

  As described above, all of the constituent elements such as the known decorative plate 600 and touch sensor plate 500 are manufactured in advance, and then, the two members are stacked and bonded together with a transparent bonding layer 700 (optical adhesive). . With such a structure, the assembly operation process is complicated, the price of the optical adhesive is high, defective products are easily produced when bonded, material waste and production cost are doubled, and the touch sensor plate 500 is used. When the decorative plate 600 is bonded to the top with the bonding layer 700, the thickness of the assembled plate is doubled, and the optical characteristics of the touchpad are reduced without matching the required light and thin characteristics.

  The present invention provides a touchpad structure. It is installed directly on the substrate of the touchpad and has the color frame and touch sensor, so there is no need to install the transparent board layer and bonding layer of the decorative plate, saving material cost and reducing the bonding process at the same time The defect rate is lowered, the optical characteristics are improved, and the required light and thin characteristics are achieved.

  In order to achieve the above object, a touch pad provided by the present invention includes a substrate, and a color frame is formed on a peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate. In addition, a touch sensor having insulation is provided on the substrate as a minimum, and the signal conductor portion of the peripheral edge of the touch sensor corresponds to the lower side of the color frame. The substrate is a transparent material and is a flat or non-planar thin plate, and the material is selected from a glass thin plate or other various flexible thin films. Examples thereof include polycarbon (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate resin (PMMA), and cycloolefin copolymer (COC). However, the range of materials to be implemented is not limited to the above-mentioned materials, and various soft or hard substrates, transparent or translucent substrates may be used. The components of the color frame are a printing ink, a colored photoresist, an organic material, or an inorganic material, but the scope of the implementation material is not limited thereto. Moreover, although the said material is installed in the surface periphery edge location of the said board | substrate by technical means, such as printing, application | coating, metal vapor deposition plating, etc., the implementation range is not restrict | limited to the said technical means. The color frame is an opaque or almost opaque thin film having a thickness of 5 μm or less. The touch sensor may be any one of a capacitive touch sensor, a resistive touch sensor, or an electromagnetic induction touch sensor, or a combination of two or more. In addition, a transparent isolation layer is provided outside the main surface of the touch sensor, and the isolation layer is a transparent protective layer or an electrically insulating layer of a substance such as silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, photosensitive material, etc. The material is not limited. In addition, a transparent ground layer is provided outside the main surface of the isolation layer, and the ground layer material is selected from materials such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), and zinc aluminum oxide (AZO). However, the scope of the implementation material is not limited to the above materials. In addition, a light adjusting layer can be provided on the main surface of the substrate. The light adjusting layer includes a layer obtained by superimposing any one kind or two or more kinds of thin films such as a polarizing thin film, a retardation thin film, and an optically isotropic thin film. In addition, a functional thin film is provided on the outermost surface of the main surface of the substrate, and the functional thin film is either an atomized film or a hard coating film, but the scope of implementation is not limited to the functional thin film.

  The touch pad that combines the above features is used by placing it directly in front of the display, and the user performs signal input by lightly touching or pushing a specific position on the pad according to the instructions on the display screen, When touching a transparent substrate with a user's finger or conductor during input, the touch sensor instantaneously generates a sensor signal and outputs a sensor signal on the edge signal conductor, and then measures the change in the sensor signal value. Check the position of the fingers and conductors to achieve the purpose of signal input. Comparing the present invention with a known touch pad structure, the present invention can reduce the cost of production materials because the transparent plate layer, bonding layer, and bottom substrate below the pad can be omitted. It is possible to simplify the bonding process between the known pads, increase the yield of the product, enhance the optical characteristics of the product, and at the same time, the design is advantageous for reducing the thickness of the product.

It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding 1st Example of this invention. 1 is a plan view of a single-layer capacitive touch sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is an enlarged view of FIG. 2A part. It is a top view of the other single layer capacitive touch sensor regarding the first embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding the 2nd Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding the 3rd Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding 4th Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding 5th Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding 6th Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding 7th Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding the 8th Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding 9th Example of this invention. It is a component diagram regarding a well-known touchpad. It is a top view of the component combination structure regarding a well-known touchpad. It is sectional drawing of the component combination structure regarding a well-known touchpad.

  As shown in the first embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 1, a capacitive touch pad will be described below as an embodiment. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the capacitive touch pad, but a resistance method. It is noted here that touchpads and electromagnetic induction touchpads are also applicable.

  In the first embodiment, the structure of the touch pad includes a transparent substrate 10, a color frame 20, and a touch sensor 30. The transparent substrate 10 is a material having a transparent main body, and the material is selected from a glass thin plate or other various flexible thin films. Examples thereof include polycarbon (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate resin (PMMA), and cycloolefin copolymer (COC). However, the range of materials to be implemented is not limited to the above materials, and various soft or hard, transparent or translucent substrates can be applied.

  The components of the color frame 20 are a printing ink, a colored photoresist, an organic material, or an inorganic material, but the scope of the implementation material is not limited thereto. Moreover, although the said material is installed in the surface periphery edge location of the said transparent substrate 10 by technical means, such as printing, application | coating, metal vapor deposition plating, etc., the implementation range of a technical means shall not be restrict | limited to the above. The color frame 20 forms an opaque thin film having a thickness of about 1 μm.

  The touch sensor 30 is directly disposed below the surface of the transparent substrate 10 and the color frame 20, and the signal conductor portion at the peripheral edge thereof is disposed corresponding to the lower portion of the color frame. The signal frame portion provided on the edge of the touch sensor is hidden by the color frame 20 to achieve the purpose of making the pad appearance beautiful. In the embodiment of the present invention, the touch sensor 30 is a single-layer capacitive touch sensor, as shown in FIGS. The single-layer capacitive touch sensor 30 includes a capacitive sensor layer 12, a rejection layer 13, and a patch conductive layer 14. The capacitance sensor layer 12 is a transparent conductive thin film made of indium tin oxide (ITO), which is arranged in the X-axis direction at equal intervals and arranged in parallel in the X-axis trace 121 and the Y-axis direction. A plurality of Y-axis traces 122 arranged at equal intervals and arranged in parallel with each other are provided, and the transparent X-axis trace 121 and the Y-axis trace 122 form a matrix-type cross installation. Further, the X-axis sensor units 121a on the individual transparent X-axis traces 121 are connected to each other, and the Y-axis sensor units 122a on the individual Y-axis traces 122 are not connected and are arranged at intervals. One end edge of each of the X-axis trace 121 and the Y-axis trace 122 is electrically connected to a metal guide path 15a and a metal guide path 15b provided on the peripheral edge of the transparent substrate 10, and a signal output terminal (not shown) ). Thereby, the sensor signals of the X-axis trace 121 and the Y-axis trace 122 on the capacitance sensor layer 12 are transmitted to the subsequent signal processing circuit via the signal output terminal. The rejection layer 13 includes a plurality of insulation blocking surfaces, and the insulation blocking surface uses a thin film material of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a high light transmittance, a dielectric constant of about 3, and a thickness of about 1.5 μm. The covered area of the insulation blocking surface is an area that sufficiently covers the X-axis trace portion 121b between two adjacently arranged Y-axis sensor units 122a passing over the Y-axis trace. The patch conductive layer 14 is provided with a plurality of conductive wires installed along the Y-axis direction, and these conductive wires use opaque metal conductors having a diameter of 15 μm or less, and the conductive wire main body is provided at two ends of the conductive wires. Furthermore, the electrical connection part 141 of a large contact area is provided. The conductive wire is installed on the upper surface of the insulation barrier surface of the reject layer 13, and the electrical connection portion 141 at the two ends of the conductive wire is extended outside the insulation barrier surface. When the capacitance sensor layer 12, the rejection layer 13, and the patch conductive layer 14 are combined, the insulation barrier surface of the rejection layer 13 corresponds to the distance between two adjacent Y-axis sensor units 122a on the Y-axis trace. Installed and insulated by an X-axis trace portion 121b between two adjacently arranged Y-axis sensor units, the electrical connection 141 at the two ends of the conductive line of the patch conductive layer 14 is connected to two adjacent Y-axis on the Y-axis trace. Each of the sensor units on the individual Y-axis trace 122 is electrically connected to the axis sensor unit 122a. In addition, an imitation decoration line 129 is provided in the installation gap between the X-axis sensor unit 121a and the Y-axis sensor unit 122a on the capacitance sensor layer 12, and the imitation decoration line 129 includes the X-axis sensor unit 121a and the Y-axis sensor. The intervals 129a are maintained at the edges of the units 122a and are not connected to each other. The normal interval 129a is about 20-50 μm. Ideally, the material of the imitation decoration line 129 is equivalent to the X-axis sensor unit 121a and the Y-axis sensor unit 122a. That is, although it is a transparent conductive thin film made of indium tin oxide (ITO), the light transmittance of the capacitance sensor layer 12 becomes relatively uniform. FIG. 4 shows another type of single-layer capacitive touch sensor 30 that can be selected. The sensor unit 42a is a transparent conductive thin film made of indium tin oxide (ITO) material, and includes a plurality of sensor units 42a having a substantially triangular area, and the sensor units 42a are arranged in an intersecting state at equal intervals. Thereafter, one end edge of each sensor unit 42a is electrically connected to a metal guiding path 42b provided on the edge of the transparent substrate 10, and is connected to a signal output terminal (not shown). Thereby, the sensor signal of each sensor unit 42a is transmitted to the subsequent signal processing circuit via the signal output terminal. In addition, a counterfeit decorative line 49 is provided in the installation gap of the sensor unit 42a, and the counterfeit decorative line 49 maintains an interval 49a at the edges of two adjacent sensor units 42a and is not connected to each other. Usually, the interval 49a is about 20 to 50 μm. Ideally, the imitation decoration line 49 is made of the same material as the sensor unit 42a.

  The touch pad combined with the above components is used by directly adhering to the front of the display 92 using the bonding layer 91, and the user touches lightly or follows a specific position on the pad according to an instruction on the screen of the display 92. The signal is input by pushing. During input operation, when the user's finger or conductor touches the transparent substrate 10, the capacitive touch sensor 30 generates a capacitive signal sensed instantaneously, and then changes the sensed signal value. Check the position of the fingers and conductors to achieve the purpose of signal input.

  Comparing the present invention with a known touchpad structure, the present invention has already omitted components such as a transparent plate layer, a bonding layer, and a bottom substrate below the known touchpad arranged on the pad. Understandably, this will greatly reduce material costs. In addition, since the color frame 20 of the present invention is formed directly on the transparent substrate 10, it simplifies the entire adhesion process between the known touchpad substrate and the decorative plate, thereby reducing the processing cost and increasing the product yield. At the same time, it is characterized in that the optical characteristics of the product are enhanced and the design is advantageous for reducing the thickness of the product.

  Furthermore, the inventor shows a touch pad according to the basic structure of the first embodiment described above, which is adjusted according to different use conditions, in the second embodiment of FIG. The transparent insulating layer 40 is disposed outside the main surface (ie, the bottom surface) of the touch sensor 30 and the insulating layer material is selected from silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, photosensitive material, etc. It shall not be restricted. The transparent insulating layer 40 is for preventing the bottom surface of the touch sensor 30 from being damaged. In the third embodiment of FIG. 6, the transparent insulating layer 40 is provided between the transparent electrode layer 30a of the touch sensor 30 and the metal guiding path 30b, and the protective layer 50 is provided on the bottom surface of the metal guiding path 30b. As a result, the transparent electrode layer 30a and the metal guiding path 30b are installed on the touchpad independently of each other. The material of the transparent electrode layer 30a is indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc aluminum oxide (AZO), etc., and the material of the transparent insulating layer 40 and the protective layer 50 is silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, photosensitive material. However, the range of materials to be implemented is not limited to the above materials. In the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a grounding layer 60 is further provided on the lower surface of the lowermost transparent protective layer 50 based on the structure of the third embodiment. The ground layer 60 is made of, for example, a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO), and the ground layer 60 maintains a ground potential, thereby preventing interference of electromagnetic wave noise on the touch sensor 30. Stop. In addition, the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is transparent between the bottom surface of the layer of the transparent substrate 10 and the color frame 20 and the transparent electrode layer 30a of the touch sensor 30 based on the structure of the fourth embodiment. A protective layer 70 is provided to improve the flatness of the layer adhered by overlapping, thereby preventing the occurrence of residual bubbles at the edge of the color frame 20. The material of the transparent protective layer 70 is selected from silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, photosensitive material, and the like, but the range of the material to be implemented is not limited to the material. In the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 9, a light adjusting layer 80 is provided on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 10 based on the structure of the fifth embodiment. The diopter of the display content on the display is improved by the light adjustment layer 80, and the light adjustment layer 80 is one or more of optical thin films such as a polarizing thin film, a retardation thin film, and an optically isotropic thin film. Consists of layers of thin films. The seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 10 has a structure based on the sixth embodiment, in which a functional thin film 90 is provided on the outermost surface of the transparent substrate 10 or the light adjusting layer 80. The thin film is either an atomized film or a hard coating film, but its implementation range is not limited to the functional thin film, and by installing the functional thin film 90, the light reflectance of the pad surface is reduced, and the pad surface Improves hardness and wear resistance. The eighth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 has a structure based on the seventh embodiment, in which the transparent electrode layer 30a is changed to a two-layer electrode structure, and an upper transparent electrode layer 30a1 and a lower transparent electrode layer 30a2 are used. And a transparent insulating layer 30a3 disposed between the upper transparent electrode layer 30a1 and the lower transparent electrode layer 30a2. The material of the upper transparent electrode layer 30a1 and the lower transparent electrode layer 30a2 is selected from indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), and zinc aluminum oxide (AZO), and the material of the transparent insulating layer 30a3 Is selected from materials such as silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, and photosensitive materials, but the material range to be implemented is not limited to the above materials.

  The present invention is not limited to the above format, and it is remarkable that there are many further improvements and changes in technology with reference to the above description. For example, based on the structure of an arbitrary embodiment, the transparent substrate 10 may use a flat plate, and may have an isolated surface plate or various other non-planar plates according to different requirements for use of the touchpad. It is also possible to change to a body (see FIG. 12). Since the effect obtained by these changes is equivalent or similar to that of the above embodiment, it is considered to be substantially the same as the technique of the present invention. Accordingly, any modifications or changes made to the present invention based on the same creative spirit shall fall within the intended protection scope of the present invention.

  The present invention has the novelty that is a requirement of the utility model, has sufficient progress compared to the conventional similar products, has high practicality, meets the needs of society, and has a very high industrial utility value .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Transparent substrate 12 Capacitance sensor layer 121 Transparent X-axis trace 121a X-axis sensor unit 121b X-axis trace part 122 Y-axis trace 122a Y-axis sensor unit 129 Imitation decoration line 129a Spacing 13 Rejection layer 14 Patch conductive layer 141 Electrical connection part 15a metal guiding path 15b metal guiding path 20 color frame 30 touch sensor 30a transparent electrode layer 30b metal guiding path 30a1 upper transparent electrode layer 30a2 lower transparent electrode layer 30a3 transparent insulating layer 40 transparent insulating layer 42a sensor unit 42b metal guiding path 49 imitation decoration Line 49a Interval 50 Transparent protective layer 500 Touch sensor plate 501 Touch sensor 501a Signal conductor portion 502 Upper substrate 503 Lower substrate 60 Ground layer 600 Decoration plate 601 Decoration frame 70 Transparent protective layer 700 Bonding layer 80 Light adjustment Layer 90 functional thin film 91 bonding layer 92 display

Claims (11)

In a touch pad including a substrate, a color frame, and at least one touch sensor, the substrate is made of a transparent material.
The color frame is an opaque or near-opaque thin film formed at a peripheral edge portion around the main surface of the substrate,
The touch sensor is disposed on the main surface of the substrate, the signal conductor part of the edge is installed corresponding to the lower part of the color frame, and the touch sensor generates a sensing signal by contact, and the signal installed on the edge A touch pad that outputs a sensing signal via a conductive wire.   The substrate is a thin film made of any one of glass, polycarbon (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate resin (PMMA), and cycloolefin copolymer (COC). The touchpad according to claim 1.   The touch pad according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a planar or non-planar thin film.   The touch pad according to claim 1, wherein the color frame is selected from any one of a printing ink, a colored photoresist, an organic material, and an inorganic material.   The touch pad according to claim 1, wherein the color frame is a thin film having a thickness of 5 μm or less.   The touch pad according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensor is one of a capacitive touch sensor, a resistive touch sensor, or an electromagnetic induction touch sensor, or a combination of two or more. .   The light control layer provided on the main surface of the substrate is a layer in which any one or two or more of optical thin films such as a polarizing thin film, a retardation thin film, and an optically isotropic thin film are laminated. The touch pad according to claim 1.   2. The touch pad according to claim 1, wherein a functional thin film is provided on the outermost side of the main surface of the substrate, and the functional thin film is one of an atomized film and a hard coating film.   The touch pad according to claim 1, wherein a transparent isolation layer is provided outside the main surface of the touch sensor.   The touch pad according to claim 9, wherein the isolation layer is an electrically insulating layer.   The touch pad according to claim 9, wherein a transparent ground layer for preventing noise is provided outside the main surface of the isolation layer.

Images